Avoiding Practice Bankruptcy
comments
A recent article from CNNMoney has brought to public light the disturbing trend of “doctors going broke.“ More often than not, the fault is not that of the doctor as cuts to Medicare reimbursements and delays/denials of insurance company payments are two of larger contributing causes of doctor bankruptcy. But, that doesn’t mean that all doctors need to worry about being left high-and-dry.
Let’s face it – simply being a doctor no longer brings with it the guarantee of financial stability like it did in our parents’ time. Healthcare has become increasingly competitive. Online, on TV, and on every other bus that drives by our office here in San Francisco there’s an advertisement for a local hospital. This is because larger healthcare organizations realize that they now have to compete for patients. And, as unfortunate as it may seem, private practices also need to start adopting this mindset if they’re going to survive in a competitive market.
Once doctors get past their initial aversion to “competing for patients,” an equally overwhelming reaction arises as doctors start feeling like their survival now requires an MBA in addition to all the years of medical/dental school they’ve already completed. Fortunately, during the same time that competition has grown in the healthcare space, there’s also been growth in the number of services available to small & medium business (SMB) space.
Here’s where the opportunity awaits the savvy practice owner. Although declining, around half of all doctors in the US still work in a private practice. Over 99% of all employers in the US are SMBs. While there are some excellent services out there dedicated to growing a private practice, there are hundreds of services popping up each month that are dedicated to growing SMBs. Once you start running your practice as an SMB, you’ll be able to tap into the ocean of innovative services that have been built with the sole purpose of bringing more consumers patients into your business practice.
We understand this is can be a tough pill to swallow. (Horrible pun intended.) Most of you made the decision to become a doctor in order to help people – not to manage a bottom line on a balance sheet. For that we’re grateful. Fortunately, with the help of services that simplify the business part of your practice, you’ll be able to continue to help those in your community for many years to come.
Want to spend less time on practice management? Claim your free DoctorBase profile and learn how the Panda automates new patient generation for your practice at:
http://doctor.DoctorBase.com/claim
